Dexter symonds



DEXTER SYMONDS, OF MARLOW, NEW HAMPSHIRE'.

Lettere Patent No. 76,957fdatcd April 21', 1868.

IMPEOVED PROCESS POE TANNING.

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'To ALL WHOM lltr MAY coNcE'RN:

Be it known that I, DEXTER SYMONDS, of Marlow', in the county of.'` Cheshire, in the 'State-of lNew Hamp- I shire, have invented a new and improvedc'llanning Process, of which the following is a ful'l,-cl'ea.r, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this speciication, in Awhich-F Figure lIl is a longitudinal vertical section of the apparatus which I use'for producing tanning-liquid from bark or other substances. y i i I Figui-e2 isa top view of the same, `after `a 'portion of the cylinder A has been removedto ,show the grate on which the'barkcor other substance is burned.' i f Figure 3 is a front end view, and Figure 4 a transverse section of figstl or 2. Figure 5 is a transverse section on the line Y Z ofhg. 1.

This invention consists, iii-st, in the process of producing or obtaining liquid from bark or other substances second, in the application of such liquid`to hides 'or skins to-be tanned; and,'third, in the liquid as a new pro. duction for tanning purposes. i

In carrying'out my invention 1 rst provide-an apparatus, in which theb'ark orcth'er substances are lconsumed by regulated combustion, and in which the vaporized products of such combustion are condensedcollected`, and drawn out for use. f v

This apparatus consists of abo): or cylinder, A-,whch'has a grata-B, above-which is a combustion-chamber, C, and beneath the grate is an ashfpit, D. 1 j

From the rear end of the'cylinder, andleading from the combustion-chamber, a. pipev o r tube,` extendsv intoandvnearly the whole length of a boxortrough, Gr, filled with cold water. The rear end of' said tube is turned'upward and extends above the water. -All the smokeand vaporfrom the burningsubstance pass i'ntc l vapor, and produce my new and improved tauningfliquid, whichvI call pyro-tannin.

'the tube E, where the vapor is condensed, but thejsmoke passes out at the'end, F, of the tube or pipe.

Connected with the under side of the tube E, and n ear the rear end,`1s a smaller tube, a, which extends downwardthrough the water and' the bottom, 6,' of the trough, and ,the condensed vapor which collects in tube E passes through the tube a into aA tub, H, or other receptacle, from which it may he removedfor use ox" transportation. v The bark, or other substance from which my tanning-liquid is produced,'is thrown into the'combustonchamber through the feed-door I, and on to the grate B, where it is set on fire and burned,'and by admitting suidcient atmospheric air through the draught-door, lc, or any. other opening below or above th ,grataandv by regulating the combustion by such draught-opening or otherwise, 'a brisk fire and rapid combustion'is` the result,

This rapid combustion produces alarge supply of'vapor, which,with the sin`oke, f,passes into the pipE, where the vapor is condensed and collected and drawnout, as delscribed, While thc smoke passes of through the rcarcnd of the pipe. I

The particular construction -or arrangement'o-f the apparatus for burning the bark or othersubstance, is 'of no great importance, since any ordinary stove or furnace may be adapted for the burning-operation, provided the draught or current of air can be controlled or regulatedso as to produce rapidor ordinary combustion, and where the pipe or pipes, tube or tubes, arranged for conveying the smoke and vapor from the burningsubstance, pass into or through a condenser like a trough, filled with cold water, as described, which willlcondense thel This new and improved .tanning-liquid isproduced in large quantities vfrom spent bark, o'r bark which has been deprived of all its tanning properties that can be extracted by leaching, steeping, or. other ordinary pro-' cess, and the liquid produced or obtained from spent bark, bymy process, isin every respect as good for tanning; purposes as/the liquid produced from fresh bark', and in my opinion, such improved tanning-liquid-cbtained fromspent bark, is superior to the tanning-liquid obtained from'fresh bark `byleachingor by steeping or byother ordinary process. v

I do not confine myself to the use of spent bark for obtaining liquid to tan hides or skins, but I use fresh bark, or any otherl substance from which tanning-liquid' can be obtained by my process.

In my new tanning-process, and in the use of my new: and improved tanuin'gdiquid or pyro-tannin," for tanning hides and skins, after the hair hasibeen removed from' 'tho hides by ,thevlimlng-procesgror by any other well-known process oi' removing said hair, the hides are then subjected to the action of the pyro-tannin, prepared as4 `above described, and without any intervening process between the liming and the tanning-process.

This pyro-tanninI not only neutralizes thellmeLbut quickly penetrates and vtans the hides in a superior manner, without injuryy to the libres-oi'V the hide, and with itgreat saving of timein preparing and tanning, so

as to produce goed leather. y y y Hides and skins are tanned by my improved tauning-process without removing the hair or the fur, and without any other operation, except the'usual soaking and leshing of the hide. No other process ofpreparation 'is necessary` to t the hide or the skin for -my tanning-process, which produces much softer and vtougher leather ,than the ordinary process of tanning.

After the hides Vor the skins have been partly or wholly tanned by my im-pro'ved'process of tanning, and to change 'the character or the appearanee'of the leather, as4 to change the color Yor to make' the leather harder or stier, I remove the partly or the wholly-tannedhides or vskins or leatherl from the pyro-tannin," and subject them t the aetionof ordinary tannin'gfliquid, procured or extracted i'r-om fresh bark, by leaching or steeping, orby otherordinary process. y

v Hides which have beeuunhaired, or which have had the hair removed by the liming-process and then tanned or partly tanned by my 4improved process,"before being subjected to the action of ordinary bark-liquor, should `be washed or scoured in the usual way, so aste remove any particles of neutralized lime which may be retained by the process described. 4 v I,

inor upon the surface of the hide or leather., 4

The pipe or tube Evin the condens'ingfapparatus should be long enouglrto condense all' the vaporized products from the burning substancepor, if' preferred, several of such'pipes may be .employedin the same manner,y or by having their ends connectedivith returnbendsrso as to form one continuous passage for smoke and vapor,

as in a coil or worm, which may be nsedwhen immersed in cold water, or cold air may beblown or draw-1i into' an enclosure around and in contact with such coil or other pipe or pipes, so as to condense all t-hc'vapor, but allow1 thesmoke to pass through the pipe or other conducting-device. A

In tanning hides or :skins'by my improved 'tanning-process, theisame apparatus" may be used, and the same machinery for working the hides, that are used in .the ordinary process of tanningihides,aad as all the drenching and other processes for'neutralizing the lime and preparing thehides for tanning are dispensed with in my process, much less care and labor aren-required to carry on and perfect the operation of tanning thanby the ordinary process. H

Thus it will be readily seen that the pyro-tannin or-new tanning-liquid in my improved tanning-process not only tans the hides, butl isa substitute for all the vordinary processes between the liming-proeess and thefinal process, which produces the perfeetly-tanned leather'.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isf- 1. I claim the process, substantially as described, of producing or obtaining from bark or other substances liquidar musing hides and sans.

2. I claimthe application Yof' such liquid to hides or skins to be tanned.

I claim the liquid herein described as a new production fortanning purposes, when produced or obtained l DEXTER lsriviorms.

Witnesses: b

S. GATES, JouirV E. CRANE. 

